Thamesmead splash out £10,000 ahead of Ryman League deadline - EXCLUSIVE

With work on the £4m re-development of current ground commencing in September, four of the club’s committee have splashed out a total of £10,000 to ensure that the club doesn’t miss the boat this season.

The club have enclosed the pitch with a new fence; installed outside toilets; two new turnstiles and have built a new covered terrace at the flyover end of the ground, which houses 250 - with 40 bench seats that will take the seating capacity to the required level of over 150.

Knowing that the club will be playing at their “mini-Dartford” in time for the 2009-10 season, first team manager Keith McMahon revealed that the Ryman League haven’t been helpful on the club’s promotion bid into that league if they clinch their first ever Kent League title.

“We did ask the Ryman League if we can have special dispensation on the ground, the new ground starts in September, and the League said “No!”, McMahon said EXCLUSIVELY to www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“It (ground improvements to meet the standard to win promotion this season) has to be done by the end of March. We’ve enclosed the pitch with a fence, we’ve had outside toilets put in, two turnstiles put in and power to the covered terrace behind the goal.

“We’ll have seats put in during the next couple of days - we’ve had to spend money on the possibility of going up - and rip it down again when we build the new ground.”

Last season Whitstable Town clinched promotion into the Ryman League after winning their first ever Kent League title in their history - and McMahon wants to do the same.

“We didn’t want to be in a situation if we won the league the ground won’t be ready to go up,” he said.

“Whitstable took 100-odd years to win it and went up and we don’t want to be in a situation if we won the league we won’t go up."

But McMahon insists their hard graft will pay off in the end and that the club will go up if his side do the business on the pitch during their last nine Kent League games.

“We’ve got the ground graders coming in on Tuesday to point us in the right direction and have a couple of weeks to be passed,” he said.

But Thamesmead Town will be playing at a venue that will be able to play in the Blue Square Premier once they £4m re-development of Bayliss Avenue is built.

“All the hard work for the last three or four years is to get this new stadium,” said McMahon.

“It’s a bright future for the club and the community. It’s got a future but the football club had a bleak future in the past trying to keep alive every week.

“There’s a lot of good people working hard to ensure we have a bright future.”

The new Bayliss Avenue ground will be good enough to stage Blue Square Football and you can visit the club website www.thamesmeadtownfc.co.uk to view the plans.